South Bay Bicycles

This is a true gem in Chula Vista. Took my 81′ BMX Mongoose Koz Kruser to this shop and they fixed it up like new. Wheels, pedals, seat, and tuned up. Rides great. Steve talked me out of replacing crank as it is a classic bike.

Steve and his help do great work and work quickly. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is that he’s a bit high on his prices for repairs.

I have a Scott mountain bike that had the rear suspension fork break on my ride I took it down these guys and they did the repair and got my bike repaired and I must say real professional guys there.
Thanks south bay bikes.
Danny.

steve is a master of his trade. he is friendly, fair priced and a great selection!

The most outrageous price in town i suggest for everyone to shop elsewhere bcuz this place is the worst bicycle shop in town.

I went in to get my inner tube replaced, I thought it was a bit expensive, considering I brought my own tube. It was done fairly quick, for $ 7. I also asked for assistance figuring out how to use the inner tube patches that I had just purchased, I was told to go home and read the instructions. I will definitely never go to a business with such rude people. Also, the patch kit that I bought had no instructions included, no pictures, nothing. I would advise to purchase products and seek services elsewhere, they are rude and overpriced. Not helpful! I recommend the Bicycle Warehouse, in my personal opinion, they are much better.

I only came here to get the inner tube replaced for my jogging stroller but they were very nice, helpful, and super fast!

Absolutely what it means to have a customer service-​oriented small business. Steve, the owner-​operator was accessible, informative and kept the price affordable. Took in two bikes for tune-​ups for Bike the Bay. Because of what was clearly knowledge coupled with Steve’s integrity, we left with better tires for the ride, and I splurged on a mirror :). His support staff is equally commendable. His inventory is probably not as big as some of the chain bike stores, but the pricing was competitive, and we found what we needed. Best of all, I live in the neighborhood! I am happy to be able to support this small, local business, and I look forward to his continued support of my new biking efforts. PS — he has a terrific mural on the side of the building!

Very helpful and professional I loved their helpfulness highly recommended to all woohoiiiiooooooooo

The horrible customer service has transferred from the highland location to the Chula Vista spot.
I thought I would give this place a shot again after years of not giving them any of my business. I really can’t believe this owner stays in business. I guess it is the lack of stores in the area. Don’t waste your time!

Go ahead. Ask the owner a question, and get ready for a smart ass/​rude response. I was excited to see a new bike shop in Chula Vista that I walked in to browse around. I asked the owner how long this bike shop has been here, not knowing they relocated from Highland, and he belittles me with a rude response which was enough to have me walk out of the store.

This place is absolute balls in the way that if I didn’t know what the hell I was looking for and didn’t do my research, they would’ve sold me a bike that wasn’t what I asked for but state it is what I was looking for.
I went in there looking for a Cyclocross bike, and the Salesperson didn’t even know what the hell I was talking about. He actually thought what I was asking for was a stationary system for endurance training.
I followed him to some bikes that he said were «Cyclecross» and what I ended up in front of were a bunch of Hybrids, Flat-​Bar Road Bikes, and Raleigh Road Bikes.
So I ask him «Okay, so where are the CX bikes?» and stated that the whole rack is ‘like Cyclecross bikes’. If I had listened to him and tried to take any of these fucking bikes — save for the hybrids maybe — on rough terrain as is and not adjusted or replaced anything on them and attempted to use it like a CX bike, I probably would’ve face planted into a tree, drowned in mud, and ended up with rims that would’ve resembled a Picasso painting. So I just left after he showed me the bikes, it was obvious they didn’t have CX bikes, and he had no idea what that was.
While I understand that Cyclocross is not known by everyone, there’s an extremely big following in Southern California for it. And even if you don’t sell them or have them on hand, it’s typically common knowledge for anyone that works in a bike shop. I went to the Bike Warehouse off of Main in Southern Chula Vista, and while they didn’t have any CX bikes around, they still knew what it was and stated that they don’t have any, instead of trying to sell me a skateboard and saying it is just as good.
NO DAWG, NO.

Great customer service nice selection of bikes. Get fit & save on gas. Ride a bike ;-)

I have been going to this shop since Summer of 2009 when my friend started getting me into cycling (the shop was down by the Highland Walmart back then). I began making regular trips to the shop to get repairs on my Craigslist pickups and to ask questions about anything I needed. I quickly developed a friendship with the owner Steve and his main mechanic/​manager Gabe. They always provided me with amazing customer service, always gave me exactaly what I needed and never tried to up sell me on anything. So South Bay bikes became the only place I would bring my girlfriend & I’s bikes. Thus my previous 5 star rating of the location.
Over the years I started becoming more knowledgeable about bikes and didn’t need to come to the shop as often because I was doing all my maintenance myself. I also had gone away to college at Cal Poly Pomona and therefore started riding a little less because of my busy school schedule and distance from my riding comfort bubble.
But a few weeks ago I decided to come into the shop on one of my weekends down south and give my bike a little tune up pampering to prepare for my proposed plan to begin commuting to school regularly. I dropped my bike off at the shop and was greeted like family, I had a conversation with Gabe & Steve and left. I came back the next week to pick it up (because of school) and felt on top of the world. I loaded my bike on my roof rack and began the drive back up to Pomona. Once I got to Pomona I noticed to my horror that one of my fork dropouts had popped out of my rack during the commute and had bent the crap out of the fork dropout that had remained in the rack. I tried to put the wheel on the bike and the dropout was bent in a way that the wheel wouldn’t fit at all. I frantically called the local bike shops in the Pomona area and was told by several places that they would «have to sell me a brand new fork» and that «there is no way they would allow me out of their shop if they had bent the fork straight». I knew that steel frames were very resilient and the Pomona bike shops weren’t even offering to try and fix it, so I decided to give Gabe a call down in Chula Vista. As soon as Gabe heard my problem he said without hesitation «Bring it in my friend, I will fix it for you.» A week later, I brought my bike in, dropped it off and Gabe told me to come back in three hours. Three hours later, I came back and Gabe had a solemn look on his face and he told me «Oh my friend… it’s not looking good…» then a smile broke over his face as he rolled my bike around the counter looking like new. I thanked him over and over again and he gave me «A good price» like he always does (Gabe will always hook you up if he knows you).
This is the main reason why I will choose South Bay Bikes over any other shop. When several other shops were only interested in making money off the sale of a new 150 dollar fork, Gabe was only interested in making me happy. I will never forget this about South Bay. They will do whatever it takes to make the customer (me) happy, and because of this I will always be coming back here as long as I can.
–Michael (Cristine’s boyfriend)
PS. All of the one star ratings on this place are ridiculous… Seriously «the employees are willing to go the extra mile for their customers… but the owner is negative» one star? Really. Come on guys. Be constructive and seriously think about what rating a shop deserves before dropping a 1 star. Based on the reviews provided that I have read, none of these ratings should be 1 star. /​rant

I went in to ask a quick question a while ago and the owner was really short an rude with me. Needless to say I will not be back.

I never read any of the reviews of this place before I went in, I needed a new crank for sons BMX style bike. Gabe answered the telephone and said he could order it for me, but bring in the bike and he would see if he could re-​thread the crank. Not only did he re-​thread the crank saving me money, he also tuned up my son’s bike checking the breaks and all cables. Then he charged me very little for the work and the new petal. I am very appreciative of the great service, friendly manor of and the thoroughness of the work. This is the way neighborhood bike shops used to be when I was young.
When I loged on to write this review I notice that the only reviews are either 5’s or 1’s nothing in between. This is very strange to me. Maybe I went in on a good day or maybe the customer service is really hit and miss. I am not sure but I was very happy with the work and friendliness, extremely pleased with the price and will for sure go back if I need more work.

Great people they for a wonderful job when repairs are needed in my bike

They have tried to rip us off a number of times. Sad, because I really wanted to support them.
They told my brother a part was one price, he left to get money and when he came back, they tried to charge him more. What a joke. Very disappointed.

Support local bike shop!
They are moving to 250 3^rd Ave, Chula Vista, CA 91 910 on January! Visit their website and stores. You will love South Bay Bike shop for sure. btw, the new place is 2 miles away from the original store.
They have 5 stars service!
I went there for tune up, buy basket and bell. My vintage bike looks really clean and new now. They let me ride their electra bike. (heart…)
Choose South Bay bike shop if you want to buy any bikes or any questions about bikes!

Okay, this place rocks. Not only is it a brisk 20 min ride from my abode, but walking in you get the feeling that this is what a family run and operated business focused on customer service is all about.
It’s my super bad that I don’t know the names of the guys that help me (Steve & Gabe!!!), but they always give me service with a smile and don’t ever have that look like they’re doing me a favor by letting me into their store. There are some LBS’s (Local Bike Shops) in town that really make me feel as though I just stepped on their dog’s tail while it was sleeping when I have a question.
Even though most of the store looks like it specializes in cruisers, mountain, and BMX bikes; the staff has a wide knowledge of all types of bikes. Since I cannot decide between riding fixed/​freewheel 87% of the time, they are always happy to change my settings or help me decide on what particular configuration to do. To them a bike is a bike.
Check em out. Good stuff.
Upgraded to 5 stars. Finally settled on this shop versus all other shops in San Diego. Never had a bad experience. They even fixed bad repairs from other «hipper» shops.